


Eventually, We All Fall Down

by LadyPenn (i_write_a_lot)



Category: White Collar
Genre: F/M, Gen, Mild Descriptions of a sick person in a bathroom, Sick Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-17
Updated: 2013-04-17
Packaged: 2017-12-08 18:59:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/764888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_write_a_lot/pseuds/LadyPenn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>El is ill, and stuck at home alone, due to Peter being out on a case undercover. Neal, Mozzie, Diana, and even June come to make sure she’s okay.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Eventually, We All Fall Down

**Author's Note:**

> For those who want to know how graphic this is: 
> 
> Warnings: Mildly Graphic descriptions of a sick person in the bathroom (throwing up/spewing, mentions of diaharrea)

Elizabeth was pretty sure that she was dying.

Heaving herself over the side of the toilet once more, she opened her mouth and spewed out the little bit of water she’d drunk earlier, in the hopes of getting something into her stomach.

She was both glad and annoyed that her husband was currently busy being undercover somewhere. He hated watching ill people, even his own wife, which if El didn’t understand her husband, she would likely take offense at that. 

Still…

She missed him, his comforting presence right now…

Her stomach rolled, and she barely made it over the side of the toilet again to dry heave a bit before she was convinced nothing was going to come up. 

Wincing at how her stomach ached from all the throwing up and dry-heaving, she glanced at her watch. 

It was eight thirty in the morning. 

She wouldn’t be able to do any work for today, not with how her stomach was behaving. 

Standing up, she felt a little bit light headed, as well as utterly exhausted. She hadn’t slept well last night, due to massive diaharrea, and then this morning was spent throwing up. 

She was slightly shaky from hunger, exhaustion, and just hurting. She seriously considered calling Peter to ask him to give his assignment over to someone else, screw the case…

A knock on the door made her blink and look up as she was in the middle of daydreaming brushing her teeth. Frowning, she spit out the toothpaste and rinsed out her mouth and was about to go open the door-

When her stomach gave a massive growl.

With a whimper, she barely made it to the toilet before spewing up a large amount of nasty vomit, clutching the toilet for dear life. 

“El?” Neal’s voice made her jump in startled surprise-or she would have had she not been busy struggling to contain what was left of her innards. “El…are you…” Elizabeth suddenly realized why his voice was so close-

He was in the bathroom with her!

She felt a flicker of panic-he can’t see her like this…this disgusting creature that was surely dying-and then confusion.

How had he gotten into the house? She was sure she’d locked it after Peter had left.

“Elizabeth, do you need me to call Peter?” Neal was suddenly squatting next to her on the cold tile floor, helping her by giving her a cold wet washrag. She hadn’t even heard him moving…but then she was feeling so crappy, she might well just not have been completely aware of her surroundings. 

“N…no,” She panted, and then bit back a groan as the sensation of having to throw up again came up, and she barely was able to clutch the side of the toilet before throwing up a bit more. She was vaguely aware, while she’d been throwing up, of Neal holding back her hair and rubbing soothing circles on her back. 

To a point, that made her feel a teensy bit better.

“H…how’d you get here?” She managed to ask, as he handed her a small paper cup of cool water. She took it, swished it around her mouth, and spit it back into the toilet before flushing the toilet. She then sipped it carefully, and set it aside, taking the cold washrag and wiping her face with it. 

“I, um, picked the locks.” He said, looking sheepish. She stared at him in mild amusement, however, so he continued. “When you didn’t answer, I thought there might be something wrong. Looks like I was right,” Neal said, looking concerned as he watched her lean against the wall of the bathroom. “How long has this been going on?”

“Since about midnight last night,” She muttered, feeling sore. “Can you tell Diana to tell Peter that I’m not feeling great? I know it’s mean telling him while he’s on a case…”

“I’m sure that Diana wouldn’t mind at all,” Neal interrupted, frowning at her. “Peter would drop everything and come over to make sure you were okay. For that matter, so would Diana, Jones, half of the other probies who’ve been here and seen you, the Director himself would probably come if I asked, Mozzie, and June…”

“Mozzie would come? I thought he was in New Jersey or someplace outside of New York?” She asked, surprised.

“He travels a bit, but he’s decided to stay in New York for now.” Neal said dismissively. “Seriously, I know June would even lend you one of her maids if you need someone to keep you company.” Neal said, frowning at her. “We all care about you, Elizabeth. Peter more than all of us…except maybe me.” Neal added with a grin. 

“Yes, Peter told me the other day you of calling me ‘mom’. While I’m honored, I think I’m a bit young to be your mother.” El murmured, inwardly smiling at the thought, even as she was fighting her stomach which was grumbling lightly. 

Neal watched her thoughtfully. 

“Tell you what…I’ve got to get back to work anyway, but this will be a perfect opportunity to prove that you aren’t alone, despite that Peter’s on a case. And I bet if I go in and help 

Peter, he’ll be done that much quicker.” Neal said, sounding suddenly cheerful. 

“Neal…” Elizabeth began, but then quickly moved to the toilet. Neal looked anxious and worried as he helped her to breath through it all, and a few minutes later, she was panting as she leaned shakily against the wall. She felt trembly weak, and wanted more than anything to just lie down a bit…

“Okay,” Neal said, making her blink and look up. Had she fallen asleep for a bit? But no, Neal was on his cell phone, talking to someone. “Yeah, I’ll be there in a bit. Hey, can you call 

June and ask her to come take care of El?” 

El was with it enough to hear Mozzie asking, 

“Something wrong with Mrs. Suit?” 

El half smiled at his name for her. 

“She’s ill…ill enough that she couldn’t come open the door, and even considering pulling Peter away from a case, which isn’t normally…well.” Neal said, glancing down at her. She just bravely sipped some water, trying not to evesdrop on Neal’s conversation with Mozzie. This time she couldn’t hear Mozzie’s response, but figured it was positive, because Neal was smiling a bit as he shut his phone and put it in his pocket. 

“Okay, June will be over in about an hour, provided there’s no bad traffic.” Neal began. “Meanwhile, I’m going to rush to work and talk to Diana about getting in touch with Peter. Is there anything that you need? I wouldn’t leave you, but…” Neal trailed off. 

El hesitated, thinking. 

“Can I have some water, please? And…and a blanket and pillow? I’ll just sleep on the bathroom floor, if I can.” She said, determindedly. 

“Sure…blanket and pillow from your bed okay?” Neal asked, all serious like. She thought that he seemed to age far older when he acted this way. He almost made her think that he really could be her and Peter’s son.  
~*~

A few minutes later, though it was really more of an hour later as she would find out, June came to her side as she was slowly slipping into sleep on the cold bathroom floor.

“Oh, poor dear. Neal wasn’t kidding around when you looked like death had warmed over,” June murmured, pulling a strand of hair out of her face. El blinked blearily up at June. “I see you’re managing to sleep now…are you feeling a bit better then?” June asked, concern and worry on her face as she gave El a cup of water. 

El drank a few tentative sips, feeling a little better as she did so. 

“Some. You didn’t have to come,” El objected, and June snorted. 

“Of course I didn’t have to come, dear, I wanted to come, there is a difference.” June scolded lightly, making El feel like a little girl again. “Now come, this tile floor is freezing, surely, which isn’t doing you any good…oh, poor darling…” June said as El suddenly felt her insides rumble, and then she was up, throwing up into the toilet. June comforted and soothed her, getting her to breath through it all, and…

She slowly came back to herself, her chest heaving slightly. 

“I see why you stayed in the bathroom, but the cold floor isn’t doing you any good at all,” June said thoughtfully. “I tell you what-I’ll get my current maid Marie here to start making you some chicken soup. You need to eat something, as Neal said he wasn’t sure of the last time you ate, and you were ill at least five times in his presence, and only managed a bit of water at the time. So, let me give her a call after I escort you to the living room sofa where it will be a great dealer warmer. Okay, darling?” She asked, gently, and El could only nod. 

Eventually, El managed to get to the sofa, and once on the warm long sofa where Satchmo laid asleep at her feet, she drifted off to sleep, half aware of June covering her with a couple of quilts and giving her a pillow.  
~*~

When next El woke, it was to the comforting chatter of Mozzie talking about something or another and to the smell of chicken soup. She thought it was the soup that woke her, as she was suddenly starving which she thought was a good sign, considering the hell she’d recently been through.

She slowly peeked her eyes open and was surprised to see Mozzie, June, and Diana all sitting at her kitchen counter, each of them with coffee and/or tea in hand, and a pot on the stove with an unfamiliar woman tending it. 

“Ah, there you are!” Mozzie’s cheerful voice made her start in spite of herself, and she slowly sat up, surveying the area. Satchmo sat cheerfully at June’s feet, and was wagging his tail as June fed him a few pieces of her sandwich. “Feeling better, Mrs. Suit? I’ve gotta tell you, you’re one heavy sleeper.”

“How long was I asleep?” She asked, yawning. Her stomach wasn’t growling yet, though it was complaining about being hungry. The chicken soup smelled wonderful. 

“About seven and a half hours. You looked as though you needed it. Boss thinks he’s about done with his case, especially since Neal managed to get in there to help him out. With luck, our boys will be back here at about dinnertime.” Diana informed her with a smile. “I hope you’re feeling better Elizabeth,” She added, concern on her face. 

“Starving, actually.” She admitted. 

“Well that’s a step in the right direction, and luckily for you, you get to be treated to Marie’s fantastic cooking,” Mozzie told her with a smirk.

Marie blushed, but smiled at her. 

“Just give me one moment to get your lunch ready, ma’am,” Marie said politely, and El nodded to her, feeling thirsty as well as hungry. She figured that she was likely dehydrated, even though she’d been drinking some water earlier in the bathroom.

“Here you go,” Marie said, a few moments later making El blink as she came over. She apparently still wasn’t with it enough to keep up with her surroundings, which made her a bit annoyed at herself, but she knew it couldn’t be helped. She still felt exhausted and shaky, but not near as bad as before. 

El dug into the soup hungrily…it was easily the best chicken noodle soup she’d ever had…and soon it was completely gone. All of her guests looked impressed with how fast she ate. 

“When’s the last time you ate, Mrs. Suit?” Mozzie asked, frowning at her. 

She had to stop and think, frowning in concentration as she did so. 

“Um…I think yesterday morning, but I only had a couple pieces of toast because I hadn’t been feeling so well.” El admitted, and he shook his head. 

“Well, there is certainly plenty of soup,” Marie made her another bowl, which she gratefully accepted, but only wound up eating half because she didn’t want to upset her stomach too much by eating so much after being recently ill. 

That was just asking for another round, she thought to herself. 

“Better, dear?” June asked, concerned, and El nodded, yawning as she did so. “Go back to sleep then…hopefully by the time you’ve woken up…” June began, but El was already fast asleep with a full belly and warm blankets covering her.   
~*~

When next El woke it was to a familiar pair of lips pressing themselves against her cheek. She cracked her eyes open, feeling much better but still weak from before. She saw that 

Peter was there, squatted down next to her.

“Oh, honey,” Peter murmured, and El couldn’t help herself-she flung herself into Peter, and he wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back comfortingly. “Neal called…said you were sick.” Peter told her. 

“Where’s Neal? I have to thank him for taking care of me…” El said, looking around. 

“Ah…recovering back at June’s. Don’t worry,” Peter said quickly. “He was only knocked upside the head so that he was unconscious for a bit. He’ll be fine…I’ve got some of the best people with him right now.”

“Poor Neal…was he found out?”

“Just as soon as we busted the bad guys…they suspected that he was the betrayer. I, um, was actually the one to knock him out.” Peter said, sheepishly. She gaped at him. “It was the only way to save my cover, and Neal told me to knock him out…not hard enough to kill him, obviously, but enough to make it seem as though I was still one of those guys.”

“Poor Neal,” El mumbled into his shirt. “I want to talk to him once he’s better.” She said firmly, and Peter nodded. 

“Are you okay, hon?” Peter asked her, after a few quiet moments. 

“I am now that you’re here with me, hon.” El said, yawning into his shirt. He felt so warm, and made her feel so safe…

Just as she was drifting off again, she was awake enough to remember that she had to tell him something. 

“Oh, Peter…”

“Yes, hon?” Peter asked, glancing down at her in concern. 

“You need to fix the locks to the house again.” She slipped off to sleep, not seeing Peter’s amused look, nor hearing him murmur, “Neal…” In a slightly exasperated tone.  
~*~

The End!


End file.
